Recalling the 2015 Nepal earthquake that caused Mt. Everest deadliest avalanche
On this day in weather history, Nepal was hit with a deadly earthquake and avalanche.
This Day In Weather History is a daily podcast by Chris Mei from The Weather Network, featuring stories about people, communities and events and how weather impacted them.
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On Saturday, April 25, 2015, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, killing around 9,000 and injuring approximately 22,000.
Building damage as a result of 2015 Nepal earthquake. Courtesy of Krish Dulal/Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 4.0
Entire villages were obliterated, leaving hundreds of thousands of Nepalese homeless.
There were many aftershocks, but a major one on May 12 killed another 200 people and injured another 2,500.
Geophysicists had identified that Nepal is a high-risk area for earthquakes due to its geology. Because the area is densely populated and has vulnerable infrastructure, the concern was that the earthquakes could be extremely deadly.
The earthquake also triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest, the deadliest to date.
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The day after the earthquake and avalanche helicopters reached Mount Everest to start rescue operations. The team evacuated 22 badly injured people before the operation needed to pause due to the weather.
Hundreds of climbers were stranded on the mountain. By April 27, the rescue mission was complete.
Overall, National Geographic reported that the avalanche caused 24 deaths (other sources say 22). One of the victims was Dan Fredinburg, a Google executive who was climbing the mountain for a Google Earth-type project. He was with three other people who also died.
To learn more about the April 2015 Nepal earthquake and deadliest Everest earthquake, listen to today's episode of "This Day In Weather History."
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Thumbnail: Courtesy of Pixabay
